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Big Cat Attack On Horse

There have been recent reports that a Black Puma attacked a horse in Ayrshire. The following article entitled 'Big cat attack on horse puts parents on guard at holiday park' was written by Steven Henry and Julie Anne Barnes for the Daily Mail, 22nd July 2009.

Parents have been warned to be on their guard after police revealed a dangerous big cat is on the loose near a Scottish caravan park.

Officers issued an extraordinary alert after a horse was the victim of a savage attack in the middle of the night.

The terrified animal suffered deep slash marks to its hind quarters, which experts later concluded had been caused by a big cat - possibly even a 6ft long puma spotted in the area two months ago.

Worryingly, the animal attacked next to a caravan holiday park full of families enjoying the summer break.

Last night a spokesman for Strathclyde Police said mothers and fathers with young children should take "particular care" in case they stumbled across the beast.

The horse was attacked near Sundrum Holiday Park, Coylton, Ayrshire, sometime last Friday.

Strathclyde Police said the unnamed owner saw to his horses that morning and noticed one had been badly injured.

A spokesman for the force said: 'He contacted a local vet who carried out an examination and concluded the injuries appeared to have been inflicted by a wild animal rather than by a human.

'Police were contacted and officers have sought the expertise of several specialists who have analysed the pictures of the injuries in an effort to determine the cause.

'Those spoken to are of the opinion the injuries caused to the horse have most probably been made by a big cat, possibly a puma.'

Although its injuries were severe, the animal was treated and is making a good recovery.
Last night Superintendent John Hazlett, of Ayr police office, warned people to be on the look-out and appealed for any sightings to be reported to help them track the beast.
He added: 'At this time after consultation with experts the evidence points to a big cat possibly a puma having caused the injuries to the horse.

'There was a possible sighting of a large cat in the grounds of Sundrum Castle back in May, when a member of staff at the castle reported seeing a very large cat prowling the grounds around 9am one morning.

'Described as sandy coloured, approximately 4ft tall and 6ft long, experts believe that this may have been a puma sighting although this has never been confirmed and as far as we are aware, there haven't been any sightings since.

'From what we have been told by experts, it is unlikely that a puma would approach and present any danger to humans and would make every attempt to avoid them, however the obvious advice to members of the public is not to approach this animal but report any sightings to the police.

'I would urge anyone who sees a large cat in the area to contact us as a matter of urgency, and I would also ask local farmers to take extra caution with their animals and to contact police if any of them are injured.'

Last night the owners of stables in the area were in the dark about the attack.
Both the Drumcoyle Livery Yard and the Lionsgate Riding Centre had heard nothing about the big cat. Local vets were also unaware of the attack.

Meanwhile, Mark Fraser, of research group Scottish Big Cats, said there had been several big cat sightings in Ayrshire over the years, but they had mainy involved black animals.
He said if a member of the public came across one it would probably flee, but added that it could attack if cornered.

'It would probably run away and most probably be away before you saw it.

'If you do come face to face with a cat the advice is to stand still, raise your arms to make yourself look bigger and make a lot of noise, while backing away slowly.'

(The image was not part of the original article and was provided by Andy Paciorek)

Making a lot of noise while backing away slowly: I imagine making a lot of noise would be easy, backing away slowly however, difficult if you have 'soiled your breeks'......

A large black cat in Ayrshire has been reported for many years, I remember talking to a witness of a sighting in the late 1990's in Irvine who suggested that there was a strain of black foxes in the area that could account for the sightings? The mail had a good photo of a creature spotted in the grounds of a disused hospital next to the landfill site in Irvine (that is being redeveloped currently) but it is not really that clear. There is a surprising amount of countryside in the area - but not being an expert on big cats, would there not be more evidence from kills, would a cat attack a horse and then give up after spending energy on attacking such a big prey, and an article in the Scottish Daily Mail on the 23rd July suggested that the wounds looked like stanley knife marks "although there is no way anyone could have done that.....because the horse would move" so the jury is out really if we remember the just as wierd stories about the horse rippers - odd people who seemed to get pleasure from mutilating horses of which there was a spate of attacks in England in the 90's.

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